<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Bolted by Mashew</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27389176">Bolted</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mashew/pseuds/Mashew'>Mashew</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hetalia: Axis Powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Human AU, also alfred's only mentioned, but he's mentioned enough that it seems okay to put him in the tags, i think, the character death is implied</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:36:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27389176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mashew/pseuds/Mashew</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: After storming off into a forest following an argument with his brother, Matthew finds himself lost in the woods.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bolted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first time writing for hetalia-writers-monthly! I hope I did this right. I used the abstract prompt, despair and/or contentment. I tried to write for the despair part of that, but i don’t know how well that went. I'd also like to thank <a href="https://cinnamontoastcroissant.tumblr.com/">@cinnamontoastcroissant</a> for coming up with the title, as I suck greatly at that, and <a href="https://catboyrussia.tumblr.com/">@catboyrussia</a> for reading over this for me before I posted it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Matthew wasn't sure how long he'd been running, or how long he'd even been outside. Sure, his legs hurt and he was out of breath, but he was never very athletic, and the trees around him obscured his view of the sky so he couldn't see the position of the moon. He had no idea where he was going, either- he just knew he had to keep moving. He had to find a way out.</p><p>He'd briefly wondered if Alfred was out looking for him, if he'd gotten lost just as Matthew had. But he knew Alfred better than that. After the fight they'd had, the one that caused Matthew to storm out of the house and get lost here in the first place (and without his phone or a flashlight), Alfred was probably sitting at home and completely ignoring any thought of him. Matthew wouldn't be surprised if Alfred didn't feel worried about his disappearance until well into the morning.</p><p>When Matthew had first realized he was lost, the only thing he could think to do would be to call his brother's name. He wasn't sure how close he was to his house, but maybe someone would hear him and come to his aid. In hindsight, that was probably what had gotten him into his current situation.</p><p>-----</p><p>
  <i>"Alfred!" Matthew had his hands cupped around his mouth, yelling into the night and praying someone was around to hear. The sun had gone down a while ago and now he couldn't see ten feet in front of himself, so he was just wandering aimlessly without any idea on how to get out.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>He was about to yell again when he heard what he thought was a second set of footsteps behind him. They were faint and in time with his, and Matthew figured he was just imagining things. Regardless, he looked behind himself. It couldn't hurt, considering he was alone in the dark in the middle of a forest.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Expectedly, there was nothing behind him. Matthew laughed at himself and how ridiculous this situation was becoming, and then turned around and began walking again. The footsteps started up again, although this time they were slightly offset from his own. Matthew glanced behind himself again, and saw that there was still nothing there. He stopped for a moment and looked around the area. Maybe someone had heard him yelling, and had decided to mess with him instead of helping him?</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"I know you're there," he said, staring at the trees. No response. "You're not gonna scare me." He listened for rustling, breathing, anything, but all he got was the soft breeze blowing at the treetops.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"Look, I got myself a bit lost. Any chance you know the way out of here?" He paused, waiting for a response. When none came, he added "I'm willing to compensate you. I'm really lost and I have a brother at home who's probably worried sick, and I don't have my phone or anything on me so I can't contact him."</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Again, Matthew was met with nothing but silence. He sighed but waited a moment longer, before turning around and continuing on. The footsteps started up again almost immediately, and now they were a bit louder than they were before. He ignored them this time, opting to focus instead on trying to find a way out.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Eventually Matthew had gotten used to the footsteps behind him. It was soothing in a way, knowing there was someone with him, even if he had no idea who that person was. He figured the person was tall though, because the footsteps were slower than his and yet never got further away. If anything, they seemed to slowly be growing closer. Part of him was unsettled by this, but at the same time the closer this person is, the harder it'll be for them to hide again when Matthew turns to catch them again.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Then Matthew started to pick up on the breathing. He wasn't sure what he was hearing at first, because it was long and labored and definitely not the way a human would breathe. But then he realized what it was, and his blood ran cold. If that really was breathing, then whatever was behind him couldn't be human.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>The thought had him breaking out into a run, trying to put distance between himself and the thing. Matthew was horrified when he heard the thing start running as well. He willed himself to go faster, scared of what would happen if this thing caught him.</i>
</p><p>-----</p><p>Matthew started weaving between the trees and then ducked behind a bush, hoping he'd thrown the thing off his trail long enough for him to catch his breath. He was never very athletic, and even with the adrenaline coursing through him he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up all night. He had to be going in circles or something, there was no way the forest was this big.</p><p>He heard a twig snap nearby and stopped breathing. <i>God, I'm going to die, aren't I?</i> Matthew brought his hands to cover his mouth and tried to breathe slowly. He hadn't recovered from his running before and was getting lightheaded.</p><p>He stayed like that for a while, hands covering his mouth and eyes wide open, scanning the area around him. Occasionally he'd hear the thing come back close to him and he'd freeze again, praying to whatever gods existed that it didn't find him.</p><p>Eventually he felt well enough to start running again, and waited until he heard the thing come back again. He was going to listen for the direction it goes off in, and then sprint in the opposite direction of that. Maybe, if he was lucky, he'd be far enough ahead that the thing would give up on him, or he'd get out before it caught him.</p><p>After a few moments he heard the thing get worryingly close to his bush, and then veer off toward the right. Matthew braced himself, trying to steady his breaths as much as possible, and when he thought he was in the clear he took off. At first he didn't hear anything behind him, and thought he'd really done it. Instead of stopping though, he pushed himself to go faster, to put as much distance between that thing and him as possible.</p><p>And then he saw a faint light in front of him, and with it the edge of the forest. If Matthew wasn't panting from all the running he was sure he would be crying at this point. As he got closer, he saw that the light was coming through the windows of an all too familiar house.</p><p>"Alfred!" Matthew yelled. He broke through the tree line and darted for the porch. "Alfred!" he yelled again. He didn't see any movement inside, maybe he was asleep? He tried the door, and when he found it was locked he started banging on it.</p><p>"Alfred, God, please let me in! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Matthew turned around, scanning the trees. He was home, but he was locked outside, and that thing was still out there somewhere.</p><p>He ran down the steps and to the windows, and saw that the living room was empty, but the lights were still on. He yelled Alfred's name again and started banging on the windows, hoping Alfred was in the house somewhere.</p><p>And then, to his horror, he heard footsteps running up behind him. He bolted for the porch again and tried to get the door open, but it wouldn't budge. He was banging and screaming and crying and when he heard the thing climbing up the porch railing behind him he collapsed to the ground and buried his face in his hands. It walked up to him, slowly, and when it stopped he peeked up to find himself met with two large, empty eyes and a gaping mouth.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>